Atkins or low carb

cwsweetpea27
cwsweetpea27 Posts: 11 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone do the low carb or Atkins diet

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    You'll have better luck in one of the low carb groups (not so much in the general forums)

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    I did Atkins 10-15 years ago. I lost 45 lbs in about 3-4 months. It works if you can eat that way.

    I couldn't eat that way to maintain my loss and ended up gaining it back plus some.

    Lots of low carbers on here though.
  • cwsweetpea27
    cwsweetpea27 Posts: 11 Member
    I have that it works a lot that but you gain right back
  • JodehFoster
    JodehFoster Posts: 419 Member
    If you give up any diet & go back to the way you were previously eating, you will gain it right back. Low carb isn't any more unique in that way.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    cwsweetpea27 wrote: »
    I have that it works a lot that but you gain right back

    The problem with many weight loss plans is that they are...well...weight loss plans. They are lacking in having a maintenance strategy. It works because you're basically cutting out an entire macronutrient...doing so tends to also eliminate a lot of calories. When weight loss is over, people tend to go back to "normal" dietary habits...this is true of just about any method of weight loss. Ultimately, there has to be some kind of long term maintenance strategy.

    Personally, as diet plans go I'm partial to South Beach. You do restrict at first, but as you go through the plan, you add things back in. It emphasizes whole food nutrition and phase III is supposed to be your maintenance strategy.
  • nightengale7
    nightengale7 Posts: 563 Member
    My mom has done the low carb thing so many times, and always gains the weight back plus some. Some people find they are happier and healthier without carbs in their life and can stick to low carb as a maintenance strategy. If you love carbs, though, I wouldn't try that as you'll eventually end up right back where you started.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,749 Member
    I had success with Atkins a couple of times, but had a hard time keeping the weight off. If you are very careful in maintenance, either via low carb or low calories, you don't have to gain back all the weight, but it takes work. I found that when I was no longer dieting, I wanted to eat many of the foods I had been deprived of before so the pounds came back. OTOH, I learned that some foods I didn't miss at all and they have remained a rare food for me (i.e. fries).
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
    I eat everything.. count my calories, meet my macros.. works great
  • sarafrf
    sarafrf Posts: 2 Member
    It's really hard to keep carbs away ... I'm struggling
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    cwsweetpea27 wrote: »
    I have that it works a lot that but you gain right back

    As others said, that's true for all diets. If you go back to the way, or amounts, that you ate while getting fat, you'll get fat again.

    I've been very low carb for couple of years come springtime. I eat sort of like phase 1, and sometimes 2, in Atkins, but I eat full fat dairy too. It works well for me so I found I could stick to it.

    While I would love to eat sweets and desserts frequently again, that's what hurt my health and weight in the first place. I'm a low carb lifer.
  • Ming1951
    Ming1951 Posts: 433 Member
    cwsweetpea27 wrote: »
    I have that it works a lot that but you gain right back

    It works but as with anything if you go back to over eating your allowed calories or in Atkins carbs you gain the weight back. I like my bread and pasta so I eat and stay within calories. I've done Atkins in the past and did well but I went back to eating breads, pasta and too much of it so I gain. This time there is no going back I'm on an allowed number of calories and I will stick to logging and within calories.
  • swillybay
    swillybay Posts: 61 Member
    I think the Atkins 40 has been a great place to start for me. It is not as restrictive as the Atkins 20 or the Ideal Protein diet, and it's one I can stick to. Also, I know I can gradually add carbs back in once I get close to my goal. I have friends who have done so well on the really low/no carb diets, but it's not a fit for me, definitely not sustainable. I have done lower (not super low) carb before and found that if I gradually went back up on the carbs and was careful with sweets, I didn't gain at all. I just gained when I went nuts on the bread/sweets, which, like everyone says, happens after all "diets." Good luck!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    cwsweetpea27 wrote: »
    I have that it works a lot that but you gain right back

    The problem with many weight loss plans is that they are...well...weight loss plans. They are lacking in having a maintenance strategy. It works because you're basically cutting out an entire macronutrient...doing so tends to also eliminate a lot of calories. When weight loss is over, people tend to go back to "normal" dietary habits...this is true of just about any method of weight loss. Ultimately, there has to be some kind of long term maintenance strategy.

    Personally, as diet plans go I'm partial to South Beach. You do restrict at first, but as you go through the plan, you add things back in. It emphasizes whole food nutrition and phase III is supposed to be your maintenance strategy.

    Ditto. Though I have to stress: The Original South Beach Diet developed by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agotston. I learned a lot from it.
    Unfortunately Dr. A sold all rights to his very nutritious plan. It's now completely different. And by the looks of it, pretty awful.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    cwsweetpea27 wrote: »
    I have that it works a lot that but you gain right back

    Many people gain it back because they find it's an unsustainable way of eating in the long term. This is why many of us around here recommend staying away from restrictive diets and learning how to moderate your intake. If you don't think a particular diet - be it Atkins, paleo, keto, LCHF, etc - is one that you'll stick to for the rest of your life, then it's probably not a good choice as a weight loss plan.
    This is imprecise. The majority of ALL dieters including calorie counters and "moderators" gain it back.
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